Hello, my name is Thomas Moldenhauer and I am currently a senior at Wisconsin Lutheran High School. In the future I am planning to study education with a major in history at Martin Luther College. I chose education because it is a field that I have been heavily influenced in throughout my life. Both my parents are teachers and I was even taught by both of them at some point in my education thus far. I have seen the influence that not only my parents, but many other teachers have had on myself and many others, and there are many vacancies in the education field. I want to be a teacher that students look up to in a profession that is losing interest quickly. Another benefit of this job is that there is no work in the summers which provides perfect opportunity for entreprenurial opportunites. I have planned an entreprenurial career to be more of a side hustle in the future. I think that the benefits of starting a buisness teach perserverance and good character, especially later in life. I started a buinsess during the first summer of covid-19, which was my seventh-grade year. I started a lawn mowing buisness by handing out flyers in the neighborhood. The first summer I had about 3 clients that were within walking distance from my house. Now as a high school senior, more than 5 years later, I still operate this buisness. It has grown to be over 3 times as big as it was that first year. I now have 10+ clients that I do lawn care for. I also have 3 clients that I do snow removal for in the winter to keep the revenue flowing. I believe I will be successful in future buisness endeavors because of my experience at a young age. My communication skills, quality of service, and dedication to my clients has grown so much in the almost 6 years I have been a part of this buisness. Success can mean different things for different people but for me having a sucessful life means being able to support yourself and your family in a way that you can live comfortably. I also believe that being happy trumps making more money but hating your job. I need to actually enjoy the job that I am commiting most of my life to because otherwise things can go south very quickly. I am very excited to go into the next chapter of my life and I plan to have entreprenuership as a key piece to the future. Thank you!

Diabetes has been a part of my entire life, since the day I was born, even though I didn’t realize it at that point. My dad has Type-1 diabetes, and he has since he was a teenager. Over the years I have heard countless stories of how this disease has affected not only my dad's life, but many others that are close to him as well. This has especially affected me because I always need to be alert if my dad has low blood-sugar. When a situation like that arises it is so important to be careful because having low blood-sugar can affect everything. If you drive with low blood sugar it can be the same as driving very tired, or buzzed. Type-1 diabetes is also a disease that can never be completely cured. There are so many variables that someone with it needs to control. The amount of insulin that one puts in their system, and how that meshes with the food that they are eating is one challenge, this is a complex system that needs to be perfected every day. Though my dad has had it since he was a teen, he still struggles to control his blood sugar often, even though he is healthy, active, and has an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor. We are a very active family so diabetes can often mean not being able to do these activities with my dad because he is low, or he just doesn't feel right. My dad and I both run throughout the year and a lot of time this is a main contributor to causing low blood sugar. This means that I need to make sure he gets sugar afterwards so that he doesn’t get too low. Seeing that my dad is able to stay so active while having this non-curable disease is really inspiring to me. This causes me to be more motivated and positive when getting out for my runs. It also causes me to look more at the bigger picture especially when something goes wrong in my life. If I get sick or have a small injury, there really are much worse things that could happen to me, and it helps me have a more positive outlook on life. I think that this experience will impact my future by increasing my understanding for others with Diabetes, and by making me more aware of how to asess a situation that can be intense. This will help me to stay calm and maintain a piece of mind during stressful events. This doesn't even have to specifically relate to Diabetes, but just to life in general. Overall, Type-1 Diabetes is a very challenging disease to live with, and through my dad, has impacted me in many ways. This being said, I believe that this disease has helped me have a more positive outlook on life, and has helped me be more aware of my surroundings.